iMovie '09 & iDVD: The Missing Manual

Shortening or Lengthening Clips

Almost nobody hits the camcorder's Record button at the precise instant when the action begins, or stops recording the instant the action stops. Life is just too unpredictable, not to mention animals, geysers, and children.

Most of the time, of course, you'll trim out the boring stuff in the Event Browser before you add it to the storyboard. Sometimes, though, you'll discover only after you've put the clips into the storyboard that the clip-shortening process isn't quite right. Maybe the shots are still too languorous, and should be shorter. Or the shots are too quick, and it's going to be hard for your audience to figure out what's going on.

In both cases, it would be nice to be able to lengthen or shorten a clip even after it's been placed in the storyboard.

Note

"Lengthen a clip?" That's right. iMovie is a nondestructive editing program. No matter how much editing you do, iMovie never, ever changes the original imported video on your hard drive. For example, after you've shortened a clip by hacking a piece off the right end, you can later change your mind, even three Presidential administrations later. You can restore some or all of the missing footage, using the techniques described on these pages.

Fortunately, iMovie is crawling with ways to perform these adjustments, even after the clips are in the storyboard. They boil down to these approaches:

• Shorten a clip by selecting the part you want to delete.

• Shorten a clip by selecting the part you want to ...